The Scarecrow Patch

Our old next door neighbor went over the top at Halloween decorating with scarecrows.  Her front yard was filled with them, and since our bedroom used to overlook her back yard, I can reveal that it was just as bad back there.  Hubs recently had to go over to the house to do some work, and he and Little Miss explored the scarecrows.

This picture also helps answer the age old question: Is there such a thing as too much purple?  Yes, yes there is.

The Pumpkin Patch: Then and Now

Pumpkin patches are wonderful places.  They're fun for kids and remind us that fall is here.  

It's amazing the difference a year makes when a child is so young.

THEN:

 NOW:

However, they aren't without their drama.

THEN:

NOW:

The Pumpkin Patch, Revisited

One of hubs' friends lives near a local pumpkin patch, so he invited us out to explore it this weekend. We've heard good things about this place, so we jumped at the chance.  Little Miss was impressed.  As we walked up there were lots of tables with pumpkins and Little Miss immediately went to work lifting them up and carrying them around.

One rolled down a hill and she was happy to get it, until she discovered hay.

Once we were able to pry her away from there by adding several of her pumpkins to a wagon, we were able to get some photo ops.

Because we had our friend with us, we were even able to get a rare family picture in.  

Little Miss, ever eager to expand her skills, insisted on pulling the wagon, which is a difficult thing to do when you can only push.

Luckily, our friend was able to have a heart to heart with her and calm her down.

There was a petting zoo there that Little Miss enjoyed.  It included goats, piglets, chicken, sheep and others I'm probably forgetting.

There was also a really good banjo player that Little Miss enjoyed listening and dancing along with.

She decided to get closer to investigate further.

When we were finished listening to the banjo player it was time to leave, but only under duress.

I hope she always enjoys pumpkin patches this much.  It was fun and I'm grateful that our friend suggested it.

Homecoming Lives On

Sometimes it's so nice to still live in the same town as my university.  One of my friends that made it in for homecoming made it a family vacation.  She and her family explored other parts of the state for a week and came back through for their flight home.  We suggested they stay with us so our kids could meet and we could get some extra time together.  We are so glad they were able to stay- the kids had a great time playing together.

The oldest daughter really liked Little Miss and lavished her with attention.  It was really cute watching them read together.

One of the best activities they had was playing with some scarves.  They all dressed up as superheroes:

(I absolutely love how Little Miss' tummy protrudes in this pic- she has the superhero pose down)

They also took turns layering scarves on each other and taking them off one at a time.  

Little Miss looked like a Babushka doll:

(pictured with her stylist)

Unfortunately, they had to leave pretty early to catch their flight home, but I'm so grateful for the time together and hope that we are able to arrange something in the next couple years so the kids can play together again and the parents can catch up- 5 years is just too long.

Countdown to 16

We were at a friend's house and Little Miss decided to get in a little driving practice before her learner's permit in about 13 years.

The Master of the Mudroom Mountain

Little Miss is becoming a climber.  She now climbs up to the bench in the mudroom.  She plays with the lights.

She explores the alarm.

She ponders how to get down.

It took some talking through, but she's mastered getting down on her own.  

Another surprising trick she found while up there was locking the door.  She turns it just enough that you can't open it from the outside.  Luckily, I saw that she did this and unlocked the double doors in the play room when I went outside to mail a letter.  When I came back to the door it was locked and she was standing guard.  I asked her several times to unlock the door, pointed to where she needed to turn the knob, shook the regular door knob, and made a big fuss through the glass.  She simply continued playing with the light switches.  I did wind up having to go in through the play room.  It looks like it's time to hide a key somewhere just in case.  While I'm glad that she's learning new skills and developing confidence in her climbing abilities, I think it's time to start challenging that skill to other places, like the playground.

Lounging with Puppy

What could possibly make a better pillow when hanging out on a rainy day?

Silly Smiley Girl

That is all.

Homecoming Friend

I feel old admitting this, but last week was my 15 year college reunion.  Nearly all my friends made it back, and my mom came down so hubs and I were able to join everyone in town for a fun kids-free weekend.  This reunion had an extra special treat- my friend who has a baby three days younger than Little Miss brought her daughter a little early so the girls could have an all-weekend play date with my mom.  We picked them up at the airport Thursday morning and the girls wasted no time making friends.

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that they looked at each other and were holding hands by the time that the car started moving.  We headed to the library for story time and then headed out to the courtyard to explore.  They checked out the fountain together, followed each other around, 

 and eventually sat down on a bench together for a photo op.

It was a very early morning for our little Southern belle, so we headed back home for lunch and naps...except our poor little friend was too wound up to sleep.  After Little Miss woke up, I offered to let my friend and her husband have a nap while I took the girls for a walk.  She fought the good fight, but after 11 hours awake, I got our little friend to do this:

Finally, some sleep.  And where was Little Miss who had already napped?  Just hanging out on my back giving me some cuddles.

Letting the girls meet and play while the parents got to hang out and spend some extra time together was such a good start to the weekend.  Where are the pictures of the moms together?  The families together?  Any pictures of the huge group during homecoming? Good question.  None of those were taken.  Oops.  It was an awesome weekend though, I assure you.

Stripper With a Zipper

It's starting to get cold at night so we've made the switch to our winter pajama collection.  After having to get used to footies again, Little Miss is enjoying her new clothes.  Another thing she's enjoying?  Zippers.  She likes being able to start at the top and unzip all the way down.  She fusses if I snap the button at the top blocking the zipper when I do diaper changes.  This is the result.

If only she could rezip them herself.  Perhaps by Spring she'll have that mastered.  Let the fine motor skill development commence!

Hiking Sleepy Dust

This weekend we decided to take advantage of the cooler temps by going for a family hike.  We went on an unpaved trail this time so we could also take Huck along.  Little Miss enjoyed the view and took advantage of the rhythmic swaying with a little snooza-palooza. 

Getting the Swing of Things

This weekend I volunteered at a picnic and Daddy had some quality time with Little Miss.  They decided to go to the park and hit up the swings.  Looks like she liked it.

Afternoon Fun

I don't want you to think that our afternoons are all filled with making Little Miss walk Huckleberry and do other work.  Sometimes she enjoys chilling in the wagon

or hanging out by the fountain dancing.

Either way, we manage to have fun.

My Pumpkin Discovers Pumpkin

When I lived in Indianapolis I discovered pumpkin bagels with pumpkin spread.  It was heaven and every fall I frequented Einstein bagels to get my fill.  I was sad when I moved here and there was no Einstein at first, but one opened up a few years ago in a far away suburb.  Hubs took me when I was only a few months pregnant with Butterbean.  We managed to get some last year as we drove through Indianapolis for Thanksgiving, but this year we plan to stay home.  The drive is so far I've been dreading doing it with Pumpkin, but hubs came to the rescue.  Apparently, they opened one not far from his work and he surprised me one day with a dozen bagels and spread.  We've been rationing them out and enjoying them immensely.  We have always offered and she has always refused, but this morning Little Miss decided that she was ready to give them a try.

She loved them!  Of course, we only have enough for one more day.  I wonder if she'll remember them next year.